Monday, January 30, 2012

Report Card on American Education | ALEC – American Legislative Exchange Council

A report on schools from our dear friends in ALEC. I love their grading system: one in which a state that ranks 47th in performance gets an A- from ALEC because of their wonderful educational policies: or as ALEC puts it:

Contains scores and grades for policies that allow the state’s

education system to make available high-quality education

through accountability, high standards, public- and privateschool

choice, high-quality teachers, and innovative delivery

mechanisms.

High on the rank? Low or non-existent strictures on home-schooling; lots of help and little restraint on charter schools; the same for online classes. In short, the Republican/conservative/tea party wet dream for education.

Ben Adler discusses this in an article from Nation of Change
And raises some interesting points. Blue states, on the whole, do better than red states. And states that do well in adopting ALEC proposals don't necessarily do well by their students. But was it ever really about the students? Or is it more about dis-mantling the federal and state sponsored education system and replacing it with charter schools that make big bucks for the people that run them, and private schools for the rich and privileged. See here 5_biggest_lies_about_the_right-wing_corporate-backed_war_on_our_schools/. and here billionaires-privatize-education/

The other funny thing about ALEC’s education report card is that they grade each state on whether they’ve adopted ALEC’s education reform agenda but are unconcerned with how their reforms affect outcomes. Some of the states with the highest marks for reform with rank in the bottom half on their performance, such as Missouri, California and Arizona.The other funny thing about ALEC’s education report card is that they grade each state on whether they’ve adopted ALEC’s education reform agenda but are unconcerned with how their reforms affect outcomes. Some of the states with the highest marks for reform with rank in the bottom half on their performance, such as Missouri, California and Arizona.

I emailed ALEC and asked whether this demonstrates that their reform agenda is not necessarily the right solution for every state, but they did not respond.

The other funny thing about ALEC’s education report card is that they grade each state on whether they’ve adopted ALEC’s education reform agenda but are unconcerned with how their reforms affect outcomes. Some of the states with the highest marks for reform with rank in the bottom half on their performance, such as Missouri, California and Arizona.

I emailed ALEC and asked whether this demonstrates that their reform agenda is not necessarily the right solution for every state, but they did not respond.

The other funny thing about ALEC’s education report card is that they grade each state on whether they’ve adopted ALEC’s education reform agenda but are unconcerned with how their reforms affect outcomes. Some of the states with the highest marks for reform with rank in the bottom half on their performance, such as Missouri, California and Arizona.

I emailed ALEC and asked whether this demonstrates that their reform agenda is not necessarily the right solution for every state, but they did not respond.